Field of View: is more really better?

The FOV slider: one of the key adjustments that sets PC gaming apart from rigid and limited consoles. Many PC gamers will throw fits of rage if a title releases without this option, and the hardcore usually turn it up as high as possible. But is that really better?

Increasing the field of view provides more peripheral vision, but the focal point in the center of the screen appears farther away and smaller. Doesn't that reduce your advantage? Additionally it just looks weird, especially when turning. 90 degree angles such as wall corners look more acute at the edge of the screen, but open up in the middle. The "fisheye" effect is disorienting, at the least.

After playing around with it, I find that I usually prefer a lower FOV, around 70 degrees, which many shooters will default to. Am I crazy?

Well it depends, What's your play style ??? Are you an up close and personal type ??? If so you'll want a high fov to enable greater awareness of your immediate surroundings, Or are you a medium to long range player ??? If that's the case then you'll want a low fov to give a more zoomed in feel to better aid in target acquisition/spotting/tracking at medium to long ranges. There are several other factors at play that i feel are important as well which include: Your visual acuity, Your monitor size, Your in game sensitivity, Your past experiences with other games EG The fov you're used to. You also have to consider what you like to do the most in a game. All these caveats dictate which FOV is best for you and in the end only you can be the one to decide, I'd suggest testing a range of FOV settings to truly determine which you feel best suits your needs/habits/style/ability.

-I've been 1st in the world 5 times in the battlefield series, So i think i can speak with a bit of authority on this subject

I never change it either. I got used to default "Console like" FOV. I did try to increase it in BF4 and it basically feels like playing 3rd person and not 1st person like in SW BF. The fisheye is also annoying.

Well it depends, What's your play style ??? Are you an up close and personal type ??? If so you'll want a high fov to enable greater awareness of your immediate surroundings, Or are you a medium to long range player ??? If that's the case then you'll want a low fov to give a more zoomed in feel to better aid in target acquisition/spotting/tracking at medium to long ranges. There are several other factors at play that i feel are important as well which include: Your visual acuity, Your monitor size, Your in game sensitivity, Your past experiences with other games EG The fov you're used to. You also have to consider what you like to do the most in a game. All these caveats dictate which FOV is best for you and in the end only you can be the one to decide, I'd suggest testing a range of FOV settings to truly determine which you feel best suits your needs/habits/style/ability.

-I've been 1st in the world 5 times in the battlefield series, So i think i can speak with a bit of authority on this subject

Interesting, I definitely expected people to tell me I'm crazy for leaving it low when I posed this question. I suppose you're correct, it does take some experimentation. The one game I tried experimenting on was BF4, and I really didn't like it higher. But big part of that is the fact that I'm not so much a competitive gamer, I'm more the type in it for the visceral experience. I like pretty, shiny graphics and immersive audio. So the fisheye distortion of higher FOVs is a big turn off for me.

higher FOV would obviously make you feel like you're moving way more faster. Its like an experience of a three monitor setup scaled into one.

I personally prefer higher FOV in most games like Battlefield 4 multiplayer because it would look more fast paced, get to see more on a single screen(therefore spotting enemies better) and the knifing effects are awesome on wider FOV. It will take some time to get used to but eventually, high FOV is almost something you cannot live without. Even in games like Dying Light, jumping over buildings and running feels much more fun and intense on higher FOV.

I hate it when games like Grand Theft Auto V don't really have a FOV slider (which could be used officially on multiplayer). It would be really useful to take out enemies online like in deathmatches etc.